Writtle College Cycling Performance Degree

Simon Whiten

Writtle College launches new Cycling Performance degree allowing you to study whilst you race…

Writtle College has launched a brand new foundation degree in Cycling Performance, a two-year course that sits within the College’s popular and expanding School of Sports, Equine and Animal Sciences.

The Cycling Performance degree is primarily aimed at talented competitors and aspiring coaches, aiming to provide them with the opportunity to study a Higher Education course whilst also giving flexibility to continue their cycling racing aspirations and enjoying access to industry experts as well as having additional opportunities to work towards professional cycling qualifications.
 

 
The This includes access to a British-registered professional cycling team which regularly competes in the United Kingdom and mainland Europe… This will give you high quality work-based learning in a top performance cycling environment and will expose you to many of the key aspects of running a world-class cycling team.
 
Head of Higher Education Sport at Writtle College and Course Leader for the Cycling Performance degree, Mark Walker, said “This is a fantastic opportunity for those aspiring to be professional cyclists or coaches to study a degree alongside racing or working within the cycling industry. A unique feature of this degree will be the direct access students will have to a professional cycling team and the close collaboration we have with various cycling venues in the UK. We will be making some exciting announcements in the coming weeks.”
 
The course will teach you about the application of physiological, psychological and biomechanical principles to improving cycling performance. The Foundation degree has two pathways – rider support and rider performance – and is aimed at either aspiring cyclists who want to improve their own performance or those who have a passion for cycling and want to enter into a career in coaching and team management.
 
The course has been carefully designed with the competitive cyclist and coach in mind with the majority of college-based teaching happening over the winter semester. For the remainder of the year you will study while you race or coach using a mixture of work-based learning (work experience) or distance learning.
 
If you are an experienced competitive cyclist and enrol on the course, you will have the opportunity to race in a College academy team and will be entered for British Universities and Colleges (BUCS) competitions. The academy team will provide an opportunity for those following the rider performance pathway to gain experience of racing in the UK and Europe. Equally, if you are an aspiring coach or soigneur and choose to follow the rider support pathway, you will have the opportunity to manage, coach and support academy riders.
 
Summary of the key features of the course:
 
A flexible course designed to allow you to study while you race or coach
Access to additional coaching qualifications
Develop your coaching and leadership skills through specifically designed modules
Gain a unique work-based learning experience through our association with a professional cycling team
Race in the UK and Europe as part of our academy cycling team
Learn about the psychological, physiological and biomechanical aspects of cycling performance
£1500 sport scholarships available for those students starting in 2014
Option to top-up with an additional third year onto the BSc (Hons) Sports and Exercise Performance degree
 
For more information see the Writtle College website